Purpose: This report provides a wealth of background and resources from an asset-oriented view of English Learners. Just skimming the table of contents makes it clear that this is a valuable resource for any science educator. You will find research, recommendations and strategies plus much more.

Here is a quote from the press release.

With appropriate curricular and instructional support, ELs can participate, contribute, and succeed in STEM classrooms. The report provides guidance on ways in which to obtain, strengthen, and maintain these capabilities to achieve development within the education system. The committee that wrote the report views this capacity building as more than the allocation of resources and engagement in improvement efforts; it also requires the re-evaluation of broader policies and practices and concerted efforts to shift them when necessary.

Are you looking for more samples of 2 Dimensional and 3 Dimensional summative assessment items for NGSS? Well, Michigan just recently released online samples of NGSS science assessment items for grades 5, 8, and 11.

Check out the portal HERE. Click on the grade you want and then follow the login instructions. Enjoy!

AUDIENCE: science professional development providers, teacher leaders, school district leaders, teacher educators, etc

PURPOSE: The module provides all the resources needed to provide a 60-90 minute session of professional learning on Equitable 3D Formative Assessment. You will find slides, facilitation notes, and embedded resources. Lots of good stuff here… I’m looking forward to more impactful resources from this project.

LINK: Click HERE to learn more about this resource and to find all of the materials.

OVERVIEW: The NGSS Network has created another support for school systems as we continue to thoughtfully implement the NGSS- Example NGSS Bundles.

You will currently find a Kindergarten, a Middle School and a High School example of how to bundle NGSS PEs for instruction. More bundles will be released in the coming months until we have examples for all K-12 NGSS PEs.

Here is the announcement that was sent out on NGSS Example Bundles today:

Good afternoon,

As you may know, the NGSS Network has been working to develop strategic guidance for curriculum developers as they work to create high-quality, NGSS-aligned instructional materials. As part of this ongoing effort, several teams of expert educators, including many of the NGSS writers, have developed a comprehensive resource that we are pleased to release today.

The NGSS Example Bundles helps explain the process of organizing the standards for coherent instruction and is intended for curriculum developers, including educators in the field and commercial publishers. This new resource features sample demonstrations of NGSS “bundles” for each grade level and, together with the NGSS Example Bundles Guide, can provide greater clarity to curriculum developers as they envision the process of creating the full range of aligned instructional materials that schools and districts need for implementation.

Looking ahead, the full suite of example bundles will be released in stages over the next few months and will ultimately cover all grade levels. Each release cycle will include information geared toward different grade levels to ensure that curriculum developers for science have a broad set of examples to consider in preparation for the 2016-17 school year. Please share this information with curriculum developers within your immediate and extended network(s).

Finally, from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. EDT this evening, some of the experts who helped developed the resource will facilitate a webinar to discuss the principles of bundling standards. If you or someone you know is interested in joining this important discussion, the registration form is available here.

Thank you and please feel free to email us at ngss@achieve.org with any questions.

OVERVIEW: As most of you know, the Science Assessment Item Collaborative has released two NGSS Item Cluster Prototypes… one for Grade 5 and one for HS. These prototypes are great models to be analyzed, however, the documents are large and unwieldy for use in professional development. Tom Hathorn in the Bethel School District in Washington State has created “brief” versions of the two prototypes for use in professional development… and he was kind enough to share. Feel free to use as you see fit.

OVERVIEW: Teachers Try Science is a website with free science instructional resources for teachers of science. The site also has a page of NGSS EQuIP rubric reviewed lessons. These lessons (unlike lessons found on some sites) appear to be good examples of instructional chunks that meet the expectations of A Framework for K-12 Science Instruction and the NGSS. It appears that there was a vetting and review process that each of these lessons went through (that’s a good thing). These are not complete units and there is currently only a limited set of NGSS reviewed lessons- but it is definitely worth your time to add this site to your NGSS Lessons bookmarks.

AUDIENCE: K-12 teachers of science looking for a few examples of NGSS-style lessons.

PURPOSE: The purpose of these standards is to provide science professional development providers with clear targets for professional learning and to give teachers specific criteria for what they should be expecting from PD opportunities